A compact and naturalistic study of a coiled snake, the bulging eyes double inlaid in dark and pale translucent horn, carved from a choice piece of marine ivory. Although the snake (hebi) is in the zodiac, as the sixth animal, it is relatively rare in netsuke art. The best examples are probably from Nagoya or Takayama and carved from wood, however the present example is from Kyoto, carved from a rare material and from the well-known artist Hogen Rantei. The snake’s serpentine body forms a knot, an ideal netsuke shape with natural himotoshi, and the composition of the body is true to nature – the scales are minutely carved, the tail section is very thin and fine, with the mid-section getting thicker and tapering towards the head. The snake has its ‘neck’ slightly raised, granting movement to the composition. The head is resting on its body and with the tongue greedily sticking out, probably fixing its eyes on some sort of prey. The signature RANTEI written in sosho can be found in a rounded reserve on the underside.

Category:

-

Subcategory:

-

Subject:

Animal

Material:

Ivory

Age/Country:

19th Century

Artist:

Rantei

Provenance/Owner:

Galerie Zacke

Signed:

signed

Type:

Katabori

Height:

28mm mm

Width:

mm

Depth:

mm

ID number: